What the Burton films possessed in style and imagery, they lacked in narrative cohesion or story structure. But the movie did not pretend to be what it wasn’t, and it did have its positive aspects.įor one - and we’ve argued this before - the screenplay by Lee and Janet Scott Batchler and Akiva Goldsman is easily the best of the four films made between 19. Batman Forever was maligned by fans who felt that the Burton movies had finally gotten the character out from underneath the massive shadow of the TV series. It was nearly a 180-degree shift from the darker, more subversive trappings of the two Burton films that had come before. Schumacher went all in on creating what was essentially a big-screen version of the Adam West series (arguably combined with elements of the comics from the 1940s and 1950s). “I didn’t want to look at what Tim did and try to be different,” said Schumacher at the time to Daily Variety.

Schumacher’s stated goal was to make a “living comic book,” but he seemed to conflate the Batman comic books - which had grown in sophistication over the decades - with the Batman 1960s TV series, a deliberate campfest that, while fun in its own way, was the dominant image that entire generations had of the Bat. Pictures’ corporate partners like McDonald’s - the studio brain trust decided a change was in order.īurton would not be back to direct a third Batfilm that task was bequeathed to Joel Schumacher, who was mandated to bring a lighter, more playful vibe to the proceedings.

The back story of Batman Forever has been well documented before, so here it is in brief in case you were napping: following the less than stellar box office returns of Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns - a Gothic fever dream which frightened not just children but Warner Bros. It is certainly the fulcrum on which the entire history of the series balances: the point where the franchise changed course in pursuit of instant gratification and success, only to pave the way for abject failure and supreme rebirth. A quarter century after its release, Batman Forever remains perhaps the most divisive of the Caped Crusader’s 10 big-screen appearances to date.

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